Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta showed his faith in Eddie Nketiah by entrusting him to lead the team’s attack for Wednesday’s trip to Manchester City.
It was the fifth time the coach had named the 21-year-old Bristish-born Ghanaian international in his starting XI since he returned from his loan spell at Leeds United in January, and the Spaniard has been impressed with his young striker’s progress.
“I want him to keep doing what he’s doing,” Arteta said.
“The way he played last night against those players, in those difficult conditions, for me is extraordinary at his age. He has an immense personality to play, confidence, he’s powerful and is developing in every area I think. I have a lot of faith in him.
“The trick here is to get them with the right environment around them. Not to put too much pressure on them. We have a really young squad, a very inexperienced squad, and when you put that in certain parts of the pitch very close together, you can see that there are some deficits and the decision-making is not always the right thing to do.
“We are in a position that we have to accept that some things at the moment, in there, probably more than we would like, are going to be like that. That’s the circumstances that we have but at the same time it’s great because it’s a great value for them to have these experiences and see themselves playing against that type of opposition.”
